Biomarkers Study in Infants With Prior Neonatal Brain Injury

University of Wisconsin, Madison100 enrolled

Overview

This research focuses on the long-term cognitive development of children, including healthy infants and those who had a perinatal brain injury. As part of this research study, children complete in-person games and assessments at UW-Madison University Hospital. Children will also take part in an EEG assessment. Parents will be asked to fill out questionnaires about their child's behavior and stress in the home.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

100

Conditions

HIE - Hypoxic - Ischemic Encephalopathy Perinatal Anoxic-ischemic Brain Injury Premature Birth Healthy Participants

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 3 MonthsMax age: 24 MonthsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Child-parent dyads will be recruited to the study. * Children 3-24 months with and without a history of a perinatal brain injury (PBI) will be included in this study. * Children with PBIs will include: * Children diagnosed during the neonatal period with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, * Children born at a premature gestational age (born at less than 32 weeks gestational age). * Children diagnosed with cerebral palsy * Healthy control participants meeting inclusion criteria will include: * healthy infants with no prior neurological (brain disorder) history * For all parents: the only research inclusion criteria is to be the parent or legal guardian of a newborn with perinatal brain injury or healthy control participant. Exclusion Criteria: * Healthy infants to be included in the control group will not have: * a prior history of brain injury * a diagnosis of cerebral palsy * a history of a neurological disorder * prior admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) * Children with chromosomal abnormalities, genetic syndromes and major congenital malformations will be excluded from both the patient groups and the control group. * Parents will have no exclusionary criteria.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Infant Attention Task (IAT) measured in seconds

A behavioral measure used with infants to assess attentional control and processing. Infants are presented with visual puppet stimuli four distinct "looks", and researchers record looking time, shifts in attention, or habituation patterns. More sustained attention in the early looks followed by habituation to the stimuli in the later looks often indicates better early attentional capacity. Total accumulated looking time to a stimulus in visual preference-type tasks commonly ranges from roughly 15-30+ seconds per trial, depending on the infant's age and the stimulus.

Time frame: Assessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time-points

A not B Task

The A-not-B task is a developmental measure of object permanence, working memory, and inhibitory control in infants, requiring them to search for a hidden object after its location is changed. Performance is typically reported as the percentage of correct searches on B trials, with infants 8-9 months averaging 20-40% correct (range 0-100%), 10-11 months averaging 50-70%, and 12-month-olds reaching 75-90%, often near the maximum. Scores vary with delay length and task difficulty.

Time frame: Assessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time points

EEG Power in Delta and Theta Bands

EEG data will be utilized to examine whether neural activity patterns are associated with later executive functioning outcomes. Specific EEG indices will be analyzed as predictors of executive functioning, with lower/higher executive functioning defined by performance on behavioral measures.

Time frame: Assessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time points

Secondary Outcomes

Reilly Role Overload Questionnaire

In the Reilly Role Overload questionnaire, parents of child participants rate the frequency of feeling overwhelmed by role demands; item responses are summed to create a total role overload score. Total scores range from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating greater perceived role overload due to excessive demands relative to time and energy.

Time frame: Assessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time points

Confusion, Hubbub and Order Scale (CHAOS)

Parents and/or Caregivers rate items describing household noise, crowding, and routine; responses are summed to create a total CHAOS score. The CHAOS total score ranges from 15 to 60, with higher scores indicating a more chaotic, noisy, and disorganized home environment; scores below 25 typically reflect lower chaos, whereas scores above 35 suggest high household chaos.

Time frame: Assessed at the 6,12 and 18 month time points

Parenting Daily Hassle (PDH) Scales: Intensity Score

A parent-report measure assessing the frequency and intensity of everyday parenting stressors (e.g., child demands, disruptions to routines); item ratings are summed or averaged to yield frequency and intensity scores. On the PDH Scale, intensity scores range from 0 to 100 with higher totals indicating more frequent and/or more stressful everyday parenting hassles.